Were hawala transfers for AAP behind Deepak Singla's arrest by ED? What we know so far

Hours after AAP leader Deepak Singla was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the agency revealed that the ex-MLA candidate handles hawala operations for the movement of funds for the party between Delhi and Goa.

Citing sources, the ED revealed that these details were found after searches conducted at the Aam Aadmi Party's premises in Delhi and Goa.

The other unnamed hawala operators in the fray were also raided in the process.

The ED further elaborated on the alleged bank fraud case that Singla was arrested for, earlier today.

It said that the AAP leader, his uncle, Ashok Kumar Mittal, and his brothers Raman and Harish, had defrauded the Oriental Bank of Commerce of Rs 150 crore.

This money was then allegedly routed to "controlled firms" in Singapore, and also back to India via the hawala route, where it was to reportedly be "infused back (into the) illegal activities of Deepak Singla".

In that regard, the ED declared that Singla's arrest today was under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

"Deepak Singla was not arrested because he did any wrong. Rather, he was arrested because he was working against the BJP and refused to join the BJP. Deepak is brave and fighting for the country," AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal wrote in an X post, rejecting the allegations.

The 2026 ED investigation also comes after a similar probe by the agency against Singla in 2024, a year before he contested the 2025 Delhi Assembly elections from the Vishwas Nagar constituency.

However, he was defeated by the BJP's Om Prakash Sharma by a margin of more than 25,000 votes at the time.

Singla's arrest also comes amid a difficult time for the AAP, which is also grappling with the ongoing money laundering case levelled by the ED against Punjab minister Sanjeev Arora, which recently saw the agency issue summonses to Punjab's Powercom chief Basant Garg, among others.